The University of Toronto is the best university in Canada according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The ARWU is published by the Institute of Higher Education at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University and several indicators of academic or research performance are used to establish the ranking, these include highly cited researchers, articles indexed in major citation indices and staff winning Nobel Prizes.
There are twenty-one Canadian universities in the Word’s Top-500 universities (2008). The Top-5 universities in Canada are: 1. University of Toronto (ranked 24th in the world); 2. University of British Columbia (ranked 35th); 3. McGill University (60th); 4.McMaster University (89th); 5. University of Alberta and University of Montreal (both ranked 101-151th). The University of Toronto has been the best university in Canada since 2003 when the ARWU was first published.
The University of Toronto is a public university and was established in 1827. It is a large university with 61,210 students: 50,219 undergraduates and 10,991 graduates. International students represent 9% of undergraduate students and 16% of graduate students.
The University of Toronto has three main campuses: St. George Campus in downtown Toronto (where most of students are located), Scarborough Campus (about 30 minutes east of downtown Toronto) and Mississauga Campus (west of downtown Toronto). The St. George campus covers an area of 68 hectares and has an open, leisurely feel. Buildings range from old to very new and the facilities are modern and varied. for 67 pictures of the St. George campus.
The University of Toronto is a collegiate university (like the Universities of Cambridge or Oxford), which means there is a central administration and a number of constituent colleges (there are seven at the University of Toronto). The colleges are not just halls of residence but have a substantial amount of responsibility and autonomy in the running of the university. At the University of Toronto, all full-time Arts & Science students on the St. George campus belong to one of the seven colleges.
For more details about the University of Toronto, please visit the university website.